New Monks Farm
October 17, 2018
Adur District Council have recently considered applications for the development of two sites, identified for development in their Local Plan on land between Lancing and Shoreham, just outside the National Park.
Adur considered two applications. The first is a hybrid application for the provision of 600 homes, relocation of an existing Gypsy and Traveller site, a new Country Park, community hub, school and 32,900 square metres of retail floor space, for which IKEA has been identified as the end user. This proposal also includes the introduction of a new roundabout on the A27, to serve the development, and the closure of the existing Sussex Pad traffic-light junction. The second is an outline application for up to 25,000 square metres of employment floor space along the eastern edge of the Shoreham Airport site. Both proposals would be extremely visible from the National Park.
There have been a number of concerns raised by many local residents regarding the impact on traffic flow and highway safety as a result of these developments. Whilst the National Park has also raised these, we have acknowledged that other statutory bodies are better placed to advise on these matters.
The scale of the combined retail element in the first scheme and employment floor space in the latter is significantly greater than that proposed in the Council’s own allocation policies. National Park Officers have been working closely with Adur District Council Officers to try to mitigate the identified adverse impact on the landscape character and visual setting of the National Park. Several meetings were held with both applicants, to explain the National Park Authority’s concerns and to advise on possible mitigation measures.
The National Park Authority has continued to object to the first application (including IKEA). Whilst measures – such as the addition of louvres to part of the retail element’s north elevation, an expansion of the area of green roof and changes to the configuration of the car park – are welcomed, we maintain that they don’t tackle our fundamental concerns. This development will have a major adverse impact on the visual setting of the National Park.
The applicant for the employment floor space at Shoreham Airport has taken on board many of our recommendations for their Design Code. But, regardless of the mitigation package, we remain concerned that the overall scale of the proposed development will have an adverse impact on the landscape character and visual setting of the National Park.
Adur Planning Committee resolved to approve both applications, subject to Section 106 Agreement on 03 October 2018. The National Park’s full comments are available to view on Adur District Council’s website (www.adur-worthing.gov.uk) under these references: New Monks Farm – AWDM/0961/17 and Shoreham Airport AWDM/1093/17